


Greenfinch

by RobberBaroness



Series: Birdsong [1]
Category: Sweeney Todd (2007)
Genre: Adopted Children, Collection: Purimgifts Day 1, Found Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-02
Updated: 2019-02-02
Packaged: 2019-10-20 22:25:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17630840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobberBaroness/pseuds/RobberBaroness
Summary: Once free, she could share her nest.





	Greenfinch

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MiloFindsSatisfaction](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiloFindsSatisfaction/gifts).



> "This species can form large flocks outside the breeding season, sometimes mixing with other finches and buntings."- Wikipedia

If Johanna looked a little bit young to be mother to a teenage boy, few were interested enough in the discrepancy to make trouble. If she ever thought there might be, Toby was described as her younger brother- simple minded but harmless enough, he had to go live with his sister and her new husband after the tragic death of their parents. But she thought of him as a son, and she cared for him as such. It was her opinion that the boy was cleverer than he seemed, but he brought out her protective instinct. Certainly, she knew well enough how often a frightened child might be underestimated.

Johanna had worried Anthony would balk at the notion of taking a near-stranger with them to Plymouth, but he was the same kind and understanding lover she had first come to adore, and he was happy to be Toby’s father. Someday they might have children of their own, born from Johanna’s smile and Anthony’s laugh, but when that day came Toby would simply grow to be an older brother.

He had a phobia of meat and a habit of flinching when older men raised their voices- the latter Johanna could certainly empathise with. And if she was protective of him, so he was of her in turn. For the first week he would barely talk to her except to repeat rhymes (no asylums, Johanna had insisted, and Anthony raised no disagreement) but after some time of being spoken to gently, her opened up to his new parents and swore undying loyalty and protection. A bit silly coming from a youth so small, but Johanna appreciated it.

The next child Johanna took in was a boy who had run away from a workhouse- she offered him shelter and he remained there. The next was a little girl whose mother had offered to sell her to Anthony- they paid the price, then raised the girl as their own. Johanna had never planned to raise so many children, but each time it happened she thought back to her own childhood. What would have happened if someone kind had taken her in instead of the man she’d had for a guardian?

She owed it to herself- and to the children- to find out.

> 


End file.
